July 27, 2020
Last week I was a featured story at Wealth Journey! If you need financial coaching and want to make the most of what you earn and save, contact Scott at Wealth Journey- he is a trustworthy advisor and he and Mimi have your best interested in mind.
Here is the story from Wealth Journey:
Welcome back to “Good News Friday!” We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with bad news. At Wealth Journey we decided it’s time for some good news! Today we want to highlight Julia Allman’s story and what she has done during the recent COVID pandemic. Julia is a Certified Christian Life Coach as well as Aromatherapist. She is the CEO and owner of Honest Aromas you can visit her website at: juliaallman.com.
Here’s her story:
A few days after the rioting began taking place across the country in response to George
Floyd’s death, I posted this on Facebook. “So, where do we go from here? How is the murdering, polarizing, hurting, hating and tearing each other down working for us? We are destroying ourselves and each other instead of valuing each life as a gift.
Together We Can
Giving in to the darkness of hate -of anyone- no matter what our political, social, ethnic
or religious background is, is the recipe for demise. We do not have to fear a foreign
enemy or a virus. We are doing an excellent job of destroying our own selves. The
problem starts in the unseen heart of each of us.”
I felt so helpless and at the same time, so passionate about doing something. I asked
myself what I could do in response to all of the violence and hatred going on in our
country. What little part could I play to change things in my community?
We have friends who are police officers and we have friends who are people of color, I
asked myself how I could reach out to both and show that I care. I called my friends of color and I expressed my care and feelings. The wife of this couple said that she had been feeling the same way, but wasn’t sure what to do either. I said, well if you want to have a gathering in the community to show solidarity and stand against hatred and violence, I am in. Within an hour she called me back and said that she had been to the City Manager’s office and requested permission to hold an event for unity!
We named the event, “Together We Can”. We prayed, discussed the parameters, and
began to invite speakers. The parameters we set forth were; faith based, non-political,
non-violent, presuming good will toward the next person, respect toward all and deciding
not to respond to provocation if it should occur. We invited our former and current Chiefs of Police to speak, a pastor whose church is very involved in the community, a retired nurse, a counselor and a county commissioner. We were hoping that at least 25 people would come and we were amazed when over 200 people attended! It was attended by police, the city council, area government representatives, business owners and community leaders as well as concerned citizens. It was peaceful, hope filled and transparent in regards to race and law enforcement issues. After that event, some youth that attended that event asked if we would support them in holding another event geared to youth and schools. When you begin to have conversations like these, many people start to surface to offer their knowledge and expertise.
At the second event we had a local pastor who was the chaplain for a police force in the
mid-west as well as a mediator concerning race for the Native American tribes in the
west. We invited him to speak as well as the former warden of our county jail, students,
faculty and a closing prayer by another pastor of the community. The attendance of this
event surpassed the first one. This event was also attended by many of our local police,
Sheriff, city council, local leaders and many concerned citizens. Our mayor told us,
“Thank you for holding these events.”
It is impossible to do something like this, at such an emotional and tenuous time in our
history without having some honest, uncomfortable conversations. I spoke with a few
wives of police officers and they have expressed what a hard time they have been
experiencing and I am gaining a better understanding of what life is like for them. Many
of them do not feel free to join in, but I engage them in conversations nonetheless. I also
have heard from many people of color of how life has been hard for them at times, simply
because the color of their skin and I have heard the fear that many people, on all sides of
the aisles, are experiencing right now.
While I was planning the second event, a psychologist that I have done seminars with in
the past, asked me if I would help him hold a,”day of peace” seminar in our town. He
works with people every day who are struggling with depression and anxiety because of
all of the uncertainty that is going on in the world right now. So we planned the, “A Day
Of Peace”, seminar at our local YWCA. We will have three Doctors of Psychology and 2
Life Coaches, including myself, offering solutions to the anxiety, depression, racism,
confusion, conflicts and family issues that have been surfacing in our lives during this
time.
While I was writing this story for Wealth Journey, I was also invited to speak at our local
Rotary Club, this week, on the events I helped organize to share ways one can create
peace and to offer strategies to calm our anxieties during these crazy times we live in.
While I am preparing for speaking at the Rotary, my husband and I are brainstorming
ideas to encourage our law enforcement neighbors and the local and state police who are
in our area! We feel an encouraging greeting card and gift cards to local eateries can be a
small but intentional, “thank you for your service to our community”, and make an
impact.
I often ponder lately how it would have been so easy to sit back and do nothing, or to
think that my small effort would have any lasting effect. But through my willingness to,
“do something”, many conversations and connections have been made that make it
apparent that good things are happening! If I had not stepped out, I would never know
what is going on in the lives of my neighbors and I wouldn’t have known how eager
many people are to be a part of positive change. It has been proof to me that one person
can make a difference in their family, community, town, county, state and encourage
others to do the same<3
Together We CanWe were hoping that at least 25 people would come and we were amazed when over 200 people attended! Our mayor told us,”Thank you for holding these events.”
Everyone AttendedIt was attended by police, the city council, area government representatives, business owners and community leaders as well as concerned citizens.
If you know of an uplifting story for our Good News Friday segment please reach out to: mimi@wealthjourney
I hope that this story prompts you to make a difference in your sphere. Your life matters, your life affects other lives! We can choose to be a bridge of hope and peace. We can choose to set up a boundary against violence and hate, no matter who it is targeted toward. We can choose to have uncomfortable conversations and grow and learn.
What do you want your life to look like? What do you want your family to look like? What do you want your county, state and country to look like? We can be the change we want to see by being an agent of change…together we can.